Lost in Transition: Insights from a Retrospective Chart Audit on Nutrition Care Practices for Older Australians with Malnutrition Transitioning from Hospital to Home.

Care transitions from hospital to home for older adults with malnutrition present a period of elevated risk; however, minimal data exist describing the existing practice. This study aimed to describe the transition of nutrition care processes provided to older adults in a public tertiary hospital in Australia. A retrospective chart audit conducted between July and October 2022 included older (≥65 years), malnourished adults discharged to independent living. Dietetic care practices (from inpatient to six-months post-discharge) were reported descriptively. Of 3466 consecutive admissions, 345 (10%) had a diagnosis of malnutrition documented by the dietitian and were included in the analysis. The median number of dietetic visits per admission was 2.0 (IQR 1.0-4.0). Nutrition-focused discharge plans were inconsistently developed and documented. Only 10% of patients had nutrition care recommendations documented in the electronic discharge summary. Post-discharge oral nutrition supplementation was offered to 46% and accepted by 34% of the patients, while only 23% attended a follow-up appointment with dietetics within six months of hospital discharge. Most patients who are seen by dietitians and diagnosed with malnutrition appear lost in transition from hospital to home. Ongoing work is required to explore determinants of post-discharge nutrition care in this vulnerable population.

Nutrition and Dietary Intervention in Cancer: Gaps, Challenges, and Future Perspectives.

The term "cancer" refers to the state in which cells in the body develop mutations and lose control over their replication. Malignant cancerous cells invade in various other tissue sites of the body. Chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery are the first-line modalities for the majority of solid cancers. These treatments work by mitigating the DNA damage of cancerous cells, but they can also cause harm to healthy cells. These side effects might be immediate or delayed, and they can cause a high rate of morbidity and mortality. Dietary interventions have a profound impact on whole-body metabolism, including immunometabolism and oncometabolism which have been shown to reduce cancer growth, progression, and metastasis in many different solid tumor models with promising outcomes in early phase clinical studies. Dietary interventions can improve oncologic or quality-of-life outcomes for patients that are undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy. In this chapter, we will focus on the impact of nutritional deficiencies, several dietary interventions and their proposed mechanisms which are used as a novel therapy in controlling and managing cancers.

Personalization in mitigating food waste and costs in hospitalization.

BACKGROUND: Organization of food services within hospitals has been identified as a determinant of hospitalized patients' nutritional intake and associated food waste. Whereas hospital food service systems in the Netherlands traditionally consist of 3 fixed mealtimes each day, we recently implemented a new 3-channel concept that provides patients the opportunity to order extra meals or snacks in-between their 3 main mealtimes or even have dinner with their visitors in a bistro located on their ward. AIM: This study investigates the impact of transitioning from a traditional paper-based to a patient-centered, digital hospital food service system on food waste production patterns and its associated financial implications. METHODS: Plate waste (served but uneaten food) measurements were performed at baseline for all served meals during a one-week period within the traditional system and follow-up measurements were conducted annually after implementation of the new system during 3 consecutive years. Measurements were conducted at two hospital floors, each comprising four wards. Average grams of plate waste per served meal, daily meal frequency per patient and the associated production and disposal costs of the collected waste were calculated and compared between the two systems. RESULTS: A total of 4361 meals served within the traditional system were compared with 7815 meals served within the new digital system. Meal frequency increased from an average of 2.5 meals per patient per day in the old system to an average varying between 3 and 3.3 meals per patient per day in the consecutive years. Within the traditional system, average plate waste was 81 grams per served meal, whilst it ranged between 33 and 49 grams per served meal during the following years, with the 3-channel concept in place (p < 0.001, p = 0.010). Dinner demonstrated the largest reduction in plate waste at all measurement points. Following this reduction of plate waste, estimated associated costs of plate waste production and disposal decreased in a similar pattern. CONCLUSION: Transitioning from a traditional, paper based to a patient-centered and digital hospital catering system results in significantly higher daily meal frequency and less food waste per served meal.

A survey of the Nutrition Care Process in Japanese acute care hospitals using a nationwide web-based questionnaire.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Study aim was to determine the levels and barriers of the Nutrition Care Process (NCP), a practical method of individualized nutrition support. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: Delegate of registered dietitians (RDs) from acute-care hospitals answered our nationwide web-based questionnaire (April-June, 2023) to determine the implementation status of screening, assessment, intervention (including planning), and monitoring (components of the NCP). RESULTS: Of 5,378 institutions contacted, 905 (16.8%) responded. For Screening, 80.0% screened all inpatients: primary personnel in charge were RDs (57.6%); the most used screening tool was Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) (49.2%). For Assessment, 66.1% assessed all inpatients: food intake (93.3%) was most evaluated whereas muscle mass and strength (13.0%, 8.8%) were least evaluated. For Intervention, 43.9% did so within 48h of hospital admission: oral nutritional supplement (92.9%) was the most common RDs intervention and parenteral nutrition (29.9%) was used less. For Monitoring, 18.5% of institutions had monitoring frequency of ≥ 3 times/week whilst 23.0% had monitoring less than once a week for severely malnourished patients. Energy and protein intake (93.7%, 84.3%) were most monitored and lipid intake (30.1%) was less monitored. CONCLUSIONS: Barriers of NCP included inefficient staffing systems and unsuitable tools in Screening, inaccurate patient targeting and lack of important evaluation items in Assessment, delayed timing and incomplete contents in Intervention, and inadequate fre-quency and lack of important evaluation items in Monitoring. An increase in RDs staffing in acute-care general wards, widespread NCP instruction manuals, and education about the tools and evaluation items utilized in nutritional management are possible solutions.

Clinical and surgical physician's perception of nutrition knowledge.

BACKGROUND: Due to the significant increase in the prevalence of food-related diseases, the value that physicians place on nutritional advice may have implications for patient treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the perception of the importance of nutritional intervention among physicians in the Universidad San Francisco de Quito's (USFQ) healthcare system. METHODS: This cross-sectional study employed a telephone survey administered to a subset of all medical doctors (MDs) working in the healthcare system clinics of USFQ between 2021 and 2022. Study participants were recruited through voluntary response sample from a complete list of 253 MD. The single time questionnaire consisted of a 22-item validated survey in which attitudes, self-perceived capacity, and knowledge about nutrition ofmedical doctors were evaluated. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, two-sided t test, bivariate associations and linear and logistic regressions. RESULTS: 136 MDs completed the survey yielding a response rate of 54%. Our analysis grouped participants into clinical (CE) and non-clinical specialties, hereafter referred to as surgical MDs. While a higher percentage of physicians in CE are confident in their ability to provide examples of recommended food portions based on national or international guidelines, 1 in 10 do not know how to use and interpret BMI or waist circumference, and around 1 in 3 do not know how many calories there are in one gram of fat, protein, or carbohydrates, and their basic metabolic functions. Almost all survey participants believe MDs can have an impact on the eating behavior of a patient if time is used to discuss the problem, however, almost half of survey participants believe nutrition counseling is not an effective use of time. CONCLUSION: It is important to explore the perceptions and self-confidence of physicians around nutrition related issues. Our results demonstrated that nearly 1 in 4 surgical MDs do not feel capable of recognizing nutritional risk in patients, which highlights the essentiality of physicians having an updated understanding of basic nutrition principles. Future research should examine how commonly MDs refer patients to nutritionists/dietitians, as well as strategies for improving physician knowledge on basic nutrition concepts.

Evaluating the Quality and Comparative Validity of Manual Food Logging and Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Food Image Recognition in Apps for Nutrition Care.

For artificial intelligence (AI) to support nutrition care, high quality and accuracy of its features within smartphone applications (apps) are essential. This study evaluated popular apps' features, quality, behaviour change potential, and comparative validity of dietary assessment via manual logging and AI. The top 200 free and paid nutrition-related apps from Australia's Apple App and Google Play stores were screened (n = 800). Apps were assessed using MARS (quality) and ABACUS (behaviour change potential). Nutritional outputs from manual food logging and AI-enabled food-image recognition apps were compared with food records for Western, Asian, and Recommended diets. Among 18 apps, Noom scored highest on MARS (mean = 4.44) and ABACUS (21/21). From 16 manual food-logging apps, energy was overestimated for Western (mean: 1040 kJ) but underestimated for Asian (mean: -1520 kJ) diets. MyFitnessPal and Fastic had the highest accuracy (97% and 92%, respectively) out of seven AI-enabled food image recognition apps. Apps with more AI integration demonstrated better functionality, but automatic energy estimations from AI-enabled food image recognition were inaccurate. To enhance the integration of apps into nutrition care, collaborating with dietitians is essential for improving their credibility and comparative validity by expanding food databases. Moreover, training AI models are needed to improve AI-enabled food recognition, especially for mixed dishes and culturally diverse foods.

Indicators of nutritional status and patient needs in cardiac rehabilitation.

Background: The prevalence and incidence of cardiovascular diseases significantly increase with age, and it is well-known that nutritional status affects the prognosis and treatment of these diseases. Therefore, evaluating nutritional status is essential for maintaining/regaining health. It is crucial to identify nutritional risk early, prevent and/or treat protein-energy malnutrition, and promote the modification of inappropriate dietary habits. Methods: Nutritional screening represents the first step of access to the Nutrition Care Process (NCP) adopted and managed by the dietitian; this tool must be simple, inexpensive, accessible, accurate, efficient, and validated. A globally accepted standardized definition of malnutrition is necessary, and for this reason, the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria have been recently introduced.The GLIM criteria, after confirming nutritional risk through screening, include both phenotypic and etiological criteria: to diagnose malnutrition, at least one of these must be present.A less commonly performed phenotypic criterion is the assessment of muscle mass, which should be studied as a significant component of sarcopenia. Conclusion: Greater attention to the identification and treatment of malnutrition would bring benefits to patients and ensure a saving in healthcare expenditure, but for this purpose, an implementation of clinical nutrition services is necessary.

Impact of a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist-Led Food as Medicine Program in the Food Retail Setting: A Feasibility Study.

BACKGROUND: Food as medicine (FAM) interventions have been associated with improved health outcomes. However, there is limited FAM evidence in food retail settings. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to evaluate the feasibility of a registered dietitian nutritionist-led FAM program that aims to detect changes in participants' nutrition problems and related nutrition and health outcomes, as documented by the Nutrition Care Process framework. DESIGN: The study was a descriptive feasibility nutrition intervention cohort analysis. PARTICIPANTS SETTING: A convenience sample of online food shoppers were enrolled in collaboration with a food retail chain (n = 39 participants completed the intervention and were included in primary analyses). INTERVENTION: Participants received nutrition care for 6 months either in person or via telehealth. The FAM intervention included tailored nutrition care that integrated software-generated meal plans and food shopping lists to support online food shopping. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Progress of nutrition problems and diet quality (assessed via the Picture your Plate survey) were measured. Measurements included changes in anthropometric and biochemical parameters, blood pressure, and quality of life (assessed via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Health Related Quality of Life-14 survey). STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Mann-Whitney U test, Pearson's χ2, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to detect differences. RESULTS: The most prevalent nutrition problems demonstrated improvement rates as follows: excessive energy intake, 81% (n = 21 of 26); excessive carbohydrate intake, 88% (n = 7 of 8); and obesity, 100% (n = 5 of 5). Exposure to the FAM intervention improved dietary quality, quality of life, body weight, waist circumference, and systolic pressure. CONCLUSIONS: FAM interventions can be carried out by in-store registered dietitian nutritionists in the supermarket setting. This feasibility study highlighted the need and opportunity for larger studies in which registered dietitian nutritionist-led FAM interventions, in collaboration with food retailers, may improve people's nutrition and health.

Ascertainment of Nutrition Care Process (NCP) Implementation and Use of NCP Terminologies (NCPT) among Hospital Dietitians in the Philippines.

Background and Objective: The Nutrition Care Process (NCP) is a systematic method used by dietitians to provide high-quality nutrition care resulting in good patient outcomes. This study aimed to assess the NCP implementation and use of NCP Terminologies (NCPT) among hospital dietitians in the Philippines. Specifically, the study aimed at assessing the knowledge, perception, and practices on NCP and use of NCPT and correlate them with the dietitians' education, and professional and employment profile; and explain the barriers and facilitators of the practice of NCP and use of NCPT among hospital dietitians in the Philippines. Methods: The knowledge, perception, and practices (KPP) on NCP and NCPT of the dietitians employed in the Philippine Department of Health's licensed level 3 hospitals were determined using a validated questionnaire. Significant factors associated with the KPP were also determined. The barriers and facilitators of the practice of NCP and NCPT were determined using focus group discussion and key informant interviews of chief clinical dietitians and hospital administrators, respectively. Results: The study revealed that majority of the participants had a high level of knowledge on NCP and NCPT, positively perceived its implementation, and more than half of them implement NCP and NCPT in the hospitals. The participants' knowledge on NCP and NCPT was significantly associated with research involvement and active membership in a professional organization. While the practice of NCP and NCPT was significantly associated with having NCP-related trainings, frequency of trainings, and active membership in a professional organization. The barriers to NCP implementation were insufficient resources; lack of orientation, trainings, and support; organizational and administrative constraints; pandemic constraints; insufficient time; and lack of confidence to conduct NCP. While the facilitators of implementation were collaboration, dedication, and commitment of the healthcare team; institutionalization of NCP laws and policies; budget allocation for NCP-related activities; monitoring and consistency of NCP implementation; and work schedule. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the implementation of NCP and NCPT in the Philippines needs further support from the institution, professional organizations, and policy makers by developing strategies to cope with the barriers, and strengthen the facilitators and factors associated with practice.

The Global Malnutrition Composite Score: Impacting malnutrition care.

The presence and impact of malnutrition in adult hospitalized patients has been well documented by a significant body of literature. However, current malnutrition care practices often vary widely and frequently lack standardization. The Global Malnutrition Composite Score (GMCS), the first nutrition-related electronic clinical quality measure, is intended to evaluate the quality of malnutrition care provided to inpatient adults. This measure aims to aid in standardizing malnutrition care through performance measurement. The four components of the measure (nutrition screening, nutrition assessment, malnutrition diagnosis, and nutrition care plans) follow the well-established Nutrition Care Process and encourage the use of standardized terminology. Facilities with high-performance scores on the GMCS are likely to experience improved outcomes associated with high-quality malnutrition care.

Assessing the Level of Knowledge, Implementation Practices, and Use of Digital Applications for the Optimal Adoption of the Nutrition Care Process in Greece.

The level of NCP implementation varies across countries due to differences identified in major components of health systems such as infrastructures, legislation, training, and cultural diversities. Dietitians in Greece receive sufficient training in the implementation of the NCP as part of their main studies; however, the level of awareness and adoption of the NCP model is still quite low, with limited information on the potential barriers. The primary aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the perspectives of Greek dietitians on the NCP and the use of digital tools. An online survey was created and distributed through the platform "SurveyMonkey version 4.1.1". The overall structure of the questionnaire was modeled according to the validated NCP/NCPT INIS Tool. A total of 279 subjects were included in this study, and 192 were aware of the NCP tool. The most important challenges for the implementation of the NCP included communication with other healthcare professionals (68.2%), provision of appropriate care (33.9%), and insufficient access to continuous education (29.2%). Of the 192 participants who knew the NCP, 81.3% reported using digital applications for the collection and assessment of health data, while 18.8% indicated that they did not utilize such tools. No relationship was found between the use of digital applications by dietitians, NCP knowledge, and demographic characteristics. Our findings highlight the need for targeted educational interventions and appropriate application of standardized protocols by Greek dietitians in daily practice. National Dietetic Associations should provide sufficient guidance on digital tool utilization in facilitating patient data management and enhancing NCP implementation.

Measures of nutrition status and health for weight-inclusive patient care: A narrative review.

In healthcare, weight is often equated to and used as a marker for health. In examining nutrition and health status, there are many more effective markers independent of weight. In this article, we review practical and emerging clinical applications of technologies and tools used to collect non-weight-related data in nutrition assessment, monitoring, and evaluation in the outpatient setting. The aim is to provide clinicians with new ideas about various types of data to evaluate and track in nutrition care.

Current Oncology Nutrition Care Practice in Southeast Asia: A Scoping Review.

Although evidence-based nutrition care is recommended for patients with cancer, current nutrition care practices provided by nutritionists and dietitians in Southeast Asian countries are not clearly reported. The aim of this scoping review was to describe nutritionists' and dietitians' current oncology nutrition care practice within Southeast Asia by identifying access to dietetic services, tools or strategies used in providing care, and barriers and enablers to implementing nutrition care practices. Five databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Global Health, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Proquest) were searched through structured search strategies, in addition to strategic searching of grey literature. A total of 4261 sources of evidence were retrieved. After full-text screening, 18 studies from Southeast Asian countries met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. The provision and reporting of nutrition care practices provided by nutritionists and dietitians were limited. Access to dietetic services, including nutritional screening tools and reason to be referred, were varied within studies. Barriers and enablers to nutrition care provision were unique and related to each country's specific resources and guidelines. In summary, there was varied reporting of nutrition care practices provided to patients with cancer in Southeast Asia and a lack of clarity on the actual standardized processes. Future research is warranted to further explore the barriers and enablers to providing nutrition care by local nutritionists and dietitians in Southeast Asia.

Resources to Support Decision-Making Regarding End-of-Life Nutrition Care in Long-Term Care: A Scoping Review.

Resources are needed to aid healthcare providers and families in making end-of-life nutrition care decisions for residents living in long-term care settings. This scoping review aimed to explore what is reported in the literature about resources to support decision-making at the end of life in long-term care. Four databases were searched for research published from 2003 to June 2023. Articles included peer-reviewed human studies published in the English language that reported resources to support decision-making about end-of-life nutrition in long-term care settings. In total, 15 articles were included. Thematic analysis of the articles generated five themes: conversations about care, evidence-based decision-making, a need for multidisciplinary perspectives, honouring residents' goals of care, and cultural considerations for adapting resources. Multidisciplinary care teams supporting residents and their families during the end of life can benefit from resources to support discussion and facilitate decision-making.

Illuminating the nutrition-related policy-practice gaps in colorectal cancer survivorship.

PURPOSE: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the three most commonly diagnosed cancers globally, after breast and lung cancer, with an estimated 2 million new cases each year, comprising ten per cent of all cancers worldwide. CRC has a complex aetiology associated with several nutrition-related risk factors. Cancer survivors frequently report alterations to their dietary habits and nutritional intake, with related adverse impacts on health-related quality of life (QOL). Whilst nutrition-related factors are recognised as survivor priorities and embedded in survivor care policies, dietary support is frequently not the standard of care in practice. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this Commentary, we present details of a critical policy-practice gap for CRC survivors across the spectrum of nutrition care that we have seen growing in the literature, in hospitals, community and private practice. CONCLUSION: As these nutrition concerns can adversely impact QOL and morbidity and mortality risks, we hope to raise awareness of these issues to provide a basis of future work in this area, so that policymakers and clinicians can improve support and outcomes for CRC survivors and their families.

Evaluation of the nutrition care process documentation in the patients' records using the Diet-NCP-Audit: experience in a medium-sized multi-site Swiss hospital.

BACKGROUND: The nutrition care process (NCP) is a four-step systematic approach to guide dietitians in providing high-quality nutrition care. It fosters critical thinking and enhances the consistency of dietitians' documentation. Following international recommendations, University Training Hospital of Fribourg (HFR) implemented it in 2013. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of NCP documentation in electronic patient records (EPRs) and to determine the nutrition problems dietitians most often identified while documenting their actions. METHODS: The audit was performed on 92 EPRs using the Diet-NCP-Audit, which was translated into French for this study. RESULTS: The documentation quality was assessed as high in 62% of the EPRs, and nutrition diagnoses were mostly documented. In half of the EPRs, nutrition assessment (step 1 of the NCP) was inconsistent with nutrition diagnosis (step 2). Dietitians often used the same nutrition problems: out of the 73 nutrition problems defined in NCP terminology, only 4 (5%) represented 58% of the 189 problems identified in the EPR audit. CONCLUSION: EPRs were mostly assessed as high quality. However, the entire process requires improved consistency. The poorly documented link between the NCP steps and the restricted choices of nutrition problems dietitians identified should be addressed because they could reveal that dietitians have not fully adopted critical thinking, which the NCP stresses.

Protein and energy intake in intensive care unit survivors during the first year of recovery: A descriptive cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Many intensive care unit (ICU) survivors suffer long-term health issues that affect their quality of life. Nutrition inadequacy can limit their rehabilitation potential. This study investigates nutrition intake and support during ICU admission and recovery. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, 81 adult ICU patients with stays ≥48 h were included. Data on dietary intake, feeding strategies, baseline and ICU characteristics, and 1-year outcomes (physical health and readmission rates) were collected. The number of patients achieving 1.2 gram per kilogram per day of protein and 25 kilocalories per kilogram per day at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after ICU admission was recorded. The impact of dietary supplementation during the year was assessed. Baseline characteristics, intake barriers, and rehabilitation's influence on nutrition intake at 12 months were evaluated, along with the effect of inadequate intake on outcomes. RESULTS: After 12 months, only 10% of 60 patients achieved 1.2 g/kg/day protein intake, whereas 28% reached the advised 25 kcal/kg/day energy target. Supplementary feeding significantly increased protein intake at 3, 6, and 12 months (P = 0.003, P = 0.012, and P = 0.033, respectively) and energy intake at 3 months (P = 0.003). A positive relation was found between female sex and energy intake at 12 months after ICU admission (ß = 4.145; P = 0.043) and taste issues were independently associated with higher protein intake (ß = 0.363; P = 0.036). However, achieving upper-quartile protein or energy intake did not translate into improved physical health outcomes. CONCLUSION: Continuous and improved nutrition care is urgently needed to support patients in reaching nutrition adequacy.

Improving nutrition care and diet intake for hospitalised older people at risk of malnutrition through a nurse-driven mealtime assistance bundle.

BACKGROUND: Poor dietary intake is common in hospitalised older people. A targeted mealtime intervention is needed to improve nutrition care and dietary intake, especially for those at risk of malnutrition. OBJECTIVES: This quality improvement project designed, implemented and evaluated a mealtime assistance bundle consisting of care measures driven by the hospital nursing team. The aims were to improve the mealtime care process to promote dietary intake of the hospitalised older people and to improve nursing staff's knowledge, attitude and practice in malnutrition. METHODS: This project adopted a pre-post design, targeting older people aged 65 years and above, who were admitted to a general medical unit in a regional hospital in Singapore. A mealtime assistance bundle consisting of seven care measures, using the acronym CANFEED, was implemented for older adults at risk of malnutrition. Outcome measures on the amount of dietary intake during meals through chart reviews and surveys of nursing staff using Malnutrition Knowledge, Attitudes and perceived Practices (M-KAP) questionnaire were performed before and after implementation. RESULTS: There were fewer older adults with poor intake in the post-implementation group than the pre-implementation group. Among those at risk of malnutrition, older adults in the post-implementation group had higher average intake of all provided meals as well as the protein-dense main dish. Significant improvements were noted in the total scores rated by the nursing staff in both the Knowledge-Attitude subscale and Practice subscale of the M-KAP questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: Integrating a nurse-driven mealtime assistance bundle into usual care may have positive outcomes on nutritional intake of hospitalised older people at risk of malnutrition, and on knowledge, attitude and practice of hospital nurses in nutrition care. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Nurses play a critical role in nutrition care for hospitalised older people. Continuing efforts to improve nutritional intake of hospitalised older people should focus on staff education, building a multidisciplinary food-promoting culture and patient, family and community empowerment. More efficient clinical processes incorporating information technology with the EMR to support better nutrition care of the hospitalised older people are needed.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery: Exploring the Advances and Strategies.

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) has emerged as a paradigm-shifting approach in perioperative care, aimed at optimizing patient outcomes, accelerating recovery, and minimizing hospital stays. This review delves into the latest advances and strategies within the field of ERAS, encompassing a comprehensive examination of preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative interventions. By analyzing an array of clinical studies, meta-analyses, and implementation experiences, this review highlights the multifaceted elements contributing to the success of ERAS programs. Key components such as preoperative patient education, minimally invasive surgical techniques, tailored anesthesia protocols, judicious fluid management, optimized pain control, early ambulation, and structured nutritional support are thoroughly explored. Furthermore, the review delves into the intricacies of ERAS implementation across diverse surgical specialties, emphasizing the significance of multidisciplinary collaboration, protocol customization, and sustained quality improvement initiatives. The analysis not only showcases the tangible benefits of ERAS, including reduced complication rates, shortened hospital stays, and enhanced patient satisfaction, but also underscores the challenges and barriers that medical professionals encounter during program adoption. By synthesizing the current state of ERAS research and practice, this review provides clinicians, administrators, and researchers with valuable insights into the evolving landscape of perioperative care, fostering a deeper understanding of ERAS as a holistic approach that transcends traditional surgical pathways.